Two former New Yorkers on path to sainthood | SILive.com

 

Pope Benedict XVI declared as “Venerable” Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen, who is buried below the altar at St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Manhattan, and Sister Mary Angeline Teresa, who founded the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirmed, Cardinal Dolan wrote in his blog on the Archdiocese of New York web site, Archny.org.

“Venerable” is the second step along the way to beatification and, ultimately, canonization.

While Archbishop Sheen is best known for his work in the Archdiocese of New York, the Diocese of Peoria, Ill., headed by Bishop Daniel R. Jenky, is pushing for sainthood since he grew up, was ordained and served as a priest in that Midwestern community.

Joseph Delaney of Pleasant Plains serves on the national board for the Archbishop Fulton J. Sheen Foundation, which is the primary organization promoting the cause of his sainthood. Delaney said he was “ecstatic” when he received an e-mail from Monsignor Stanley Deptula of Peoria, executive director of the foundation, spreading the good news about Pope Benedict’s decree affirming the heroic virtues of Archbishop Sheen. 

</sub>PROUD SUPPORTERS<RR>“New Yorkers like myself are proud to be part of the cause,” said Delaney, who in April was selected as the first-ever recipient of the University of Notre Dame Alumni Association’s Volunteer of the Year award.

Delaney was a boy growing up in West Orange, N.J., attending St. John’s Grammar School, when he first saw and heard then-Bishop Sheen speak on the Dumont TV Network, locally broadcast on Channel 5. He remembers sitting down with his family after dinner to watch Archbishop Sheen’s TV show, “Life is Worth Living.”

The clergyman’s messages were aimed mainly at adults and, Delaney believes, had meaning for all Christians, not only Roman Catholics.

“I’ve always had a love and veneration for Archbishop Sheen,” Delaney said. “I consider him a hero of mine.” 

</sub>CONTINUING THE MISSION<rR>As coordinator of Adult Religious Education at St. Joseph-St. Thomas Parish, Delaney continues the mission of Archbishop Sheen.

“One of the reasons why I got myself involved in Adult Religious Education at St. Joseph-St. Thomas was I was inspired by the example of Archbishop Sheen,” Delaney said.

Pope John Paul II gave Archbishop Sheen the nickname “Preacher to the World,” referring to the many years that the preacher spent working in radio, television, and for the missions, Cardinal Dolan said.

“As head of the Society for the Propagation of the Faith from 1950 to 1966, the Venerable Fulton Sheen was heroic in spreading the Gospel of Jesus Christ far and wide — from Peoria to Pretoria; New York to New Delhi,” proclaimed Father Andrew Small, current president of the society.

“He teaches us still that the Church is missionary by Her very nature,” Father Small said.

In his visits to Staten Island, Cardinal Dolan has described Archbishop Sheen as a hero and a 20th-century pioneer in TV and radio evangelism.

Sheen was born in 1895 in El Paso, Ill, in the Diocese of Peoria, and ordained a priest there in 1919. He began a radio ministry in New York City in 1926, and became the first regular speaker on the NBC network radio program “The Catholic Hour” in 1930, according to his foundation. 

</sub>WINS AN EMMY<RR>His “Life is Worth Living” national television program aired from 1952 through 1957, drawing millions of viewers weekly. He won the 1952 Emmy for Most Outstanding Personality and, during his acceptance speech, thanked his “four writers — Matthew, Mark, Luke and John,” saintly writers of the Bible.

He also hosted the TV series “Pro Vadis, America?” from 1964 to 1966, and “The Bishop Sheen Program,” which bowed in 1966.

In 1955, Archbishop Sheen became the first Latin Rite bishop ever to offer a Solemn Byzantine Rite Mass in English. It was attended by more than 150,000 faithful in Uniontown, Pa.

In 1966, he was elected chairman of the Committee for the Propagation of the Faith. Pope Paul VI appointed him Bishop of Rochester (N.Y.) in Oct. 1966, and Archbishop of the Titular See of Newport, Wales, in Oct. 1969.

Archbishop Sheen died in 1979 at his home in New York City, according to his foundation. 

</sub>VENERABLE MARY 

ANGELINE TERESA<RR>Venerable Mary Angeline Teresa was born in Ireland in 1893. She joined the Little Sisters of the Poor at the age of 19, made her novitiate in France and ultimately was sent to the United States, where she was appointed Superior of a Home of the Little Sisters in the Bronx.

The then-Archbishop of New York, Cardinal Patrick Hayes, encouraged her to expand care for the elderly throughout all of New York City and the United States. With his approval, she and six other Sisters withdrew from the Congregation of the Little Sisters of the Poor and founded the Carmelite Sisters for the Aged and Infirmed.

Sister died on Jan. 21 1984, and is buried at St. Theresa’s Motherhouse in Germantown, N.Y. She is remembered by the Sisters of her order by her words: “If you have to fail, let it be on the side of kindness. Be kinder than kindness itself to the old people.”

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